Troubled Waters
by Izzyaro
Summary: The coup has failed. The New Seven Ninja Swordsmen have been defeated, and Uzumaki Boruto is safe, but Chōjūrō is still struggling. Mei is no longer the Mizukage, but she will always be there for the people she cares about.


**I loved Chōjūrō in Shippūden and I love him just as much in Boruto, amd he needed some kind of reassurance after that whole mess. I hope you enjoy it.**

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Mei was careful to wait until every last chakra signature had faded to a suitable distance before slowing her smile to drop. After all these years, all their work and sacrifice, to have everything come so close to unravelling because of a few bloodthirsty children was infuriating.

And there was someone else who would be feeling it just as deeply than she was.

She hadn't bothered trying the hospital. It wasn't like people needed to stay for observation after treatment for being used as a pincushion by homicidal morons. Mei had got the details of the encounter from the jōnin supervising the clean-up, and had been pleased by her forethought in staying away once she had. It was unlikely that the brat who had tried to wield Nuibari would still be among the living if Mei had had to hear about her exploits in person.

Though she suspected the supervisory jōnin had made their thoughts on that quite clear enough without her. The vast majority of their shinobi still felt some sense of loyalty to the Mizukage after all.

That still left one person to deal with. Mei took a moment to calm herself, and pushed open the door to the Mizukage's office.

And promptly stopped short.

"That is not how you rest a shoulder wound, Chō-kun."

Once that term of address would have elicited a most adorable blush. Now though, Chōjūrō merely spared her a tired look. "I have far too much to do to worry about a minor injury, Mei."

Mei raised an eyebrow. "By minor injury, I'm assuming you mean any of the ones that didn't punch straight through your shoulder and miss your brachial artery by less than an inch."

Chōjūrō's lips thinned, and he looked back at his papers without answering. Mei eyed the bulge of bandages under his shirt. "You shouldn't be out of hospital."

Chōjūrō sighed. "I appreciate the concern, but I must clear up this mess. I was the one who caused it, after all."

Mei stared at him, at the ashen pallor of his face and the tremble in his left hand, and her frustration crystallised to ice. "Chōjūrō," she said, and Chōjūrō's head snapped up so fast it would have been amusing under any circumstances but this time she was too angry to care.

"Mei-"

"Chōjūrō," she interrupted flatly, "if you actually believe that you are personally responsible for anything that happened today then I will be seriously displeased."

Chōjūrō twitched, and his eyes slid away. "It is quite literally my job to be responsible for everything that happens in this village," he mumbled. "And they had legitimate grievances-"

"They were power-hungry brats who tried to start a war for their own amusement," Mei hissed. She leaned on the desk until Chōjūrō was forced to meet her gaze. "And they tried to murder a child to do so. No grievance they might have excuses that."

Chōjūrō sighed again, and set his pen down. "No, but they did have a right to their anger."

He pushed himself to his feet, and Mei was briefly distracted wondering how he could possibly look even worse and whether or not he was going to actually pass out from blood loss, but he just moved to the window. Mei stepped up to join him, and saw his eyes come to rest on the memorial in the distance.

"Everything we have done has been to build a better future for this village," he said quietly. "I do not regret that, nor shall I. But in our haste to do so we have failed to fully honour the past."

"Because our past is soaked in blood," replied Mei. She thought about the reports she had heard regarding Shizuma's actions, and shook her head. "Kisame was a traitor who left to sate his own bloodlust, and who would have helped destroyed the world if not stopped. Have his clan ever disavowed his actions?"

Chōjūrō closed his eyes. "Perhaps not, but the Hoshigaki have served Kiri well for many decades. One traitor should not have let us forget that."

It was two traitors now, but Mei knew better than to point that out. Instead, she rested a hand on Chōjūrō's uninjured shoulder. "Maybe we have made mistakes, but that does not excuse their actions. They would have killed Uzumaki Boruto, and you know as well as I do the retribution Konoha would have exacted."

Unlike Shizuma, they had both been there during the war. They had seen Uzumaki Naruto stand on the battlefield. If Shizuma's plan had succeeded, if they had killed the Hokage's son...

Mei forced that thought away. Shizuma had failed, and she would not let him torment her friend any further.

"Kiri prospers because of you, Chōjūrō," she said softly. "A vocal minority does not change that."

The corner of Chōjūrō's mouth twitched into a bitter smile. "A vocal minority including the Daimyō and his most influential advisors."

"War-mongering fools who place their own profits above the lives of the people they are sworn to protect," said Mei, without missing a beat, though the reminder that Chōjūrō had faded a steady stream of assassination attempts since taking office did nothing to improve her mood. "You want what's best for Kiri, Chōjūrō. If others are too blind to see that, it is not your problem."

Chōjūrō finally looked at her, and for a moment Mei could only see the timid boy, so convinced that he was and would always be a failure. Before she knew what she was doing, she had pulled him into a tight hug. Chōjūrō flinched at the contact, something he hadn't done in years, but after a moment his arms came up and he sagged slightly against her.

"Are you sure you don't want the hat back?" he mumbled.

Mei snorted. "You earned that hat fair and square, I'm not wearing it ever again." She pulled back enough to look him in the eye. "There is no one else I would trust to be Mizukage right now. Myself included."

Chōjūrō's eyes went very wide. Mei smiled, and reached up to cup his cheek. "I trust you, Chōjūrō."

Chōjūrō opened his mouth, then closed it again without a word, but his eyes were very bright and Mei understood. She patted his cheek once more, and stepped back. "One day you'll learn to have faith in yourself," she said quietly.

Chōjūrō's face flushed, and he ducked his head. "Thank you, Mei-sama. Mei," he corrected, before Mei could do it for him. He gave her a small, but genuine smile, and straightened his glasses. "Though everything I have done has been built on the foundations you laid. You are as responsible for Kiri's prosperity as I am."

Mei smiled back. "And that is a legacy I can be proud of."

Chōjūrō stared out over their village, once again safe from the threat of war, and nodded slowly. "They were wrong to try to force us to return to the past," he said. "I hope that one day they will understand why."

Mei raised an eyebrow, but decided to keep her thoughts on the conspirators to herself. She glanced at Chōjūrō, and frowned to see him leaning heavily on the back of his chair. "Perhaps," she said. "But for now, that is enough."

Chōjūrō caught her eye, and after a second's hesitation he dipped his head. "It has been a long day," he allowed.

Mei squeezed his good shoulder. "Kiri is safe. It is time for you to rest."

Chōjūrō's eyes clearly betrayed his exhaustion, to her if no one else, but still he hesitated. Mei sighed, and wrapped an arm around him to steer him to the low couch in the corner. "Sit down, at least."

"Mei," Chōjūrō began, but he broke off with a grunt as he tripped on thin air and Mei hurriedly gripped him tighter.

"Sit," she repeated, more firmly, and this time Chōjūrō didn't try to argue, not even when Mei slipped the glasses from his face. She placed them carefully on the arm of the couch, and settled next to her friend.

"You did well, Chōjūrō," she whispered. "Now, rest."

Chōjūrō squeezed her hand in silent gratitude, and the last of the day's tension finally drained from his body. Mei leaned into him, matching her breaths with his until he finally slumped against her in sleep.

The moon shone bright upon a world at peace as Mei watched over her Mizukage.

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 **Thanks for reading! It's my first time writing these characters, so any feedback would be very much appreciated.**


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